


How to Know If You're On a Date With Your Best Friend

by dianawritesfic



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 12:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20600789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianawritesfic/pseuds/dianawritesfic
Summary: He could see the way Richie looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, eyes slowly widening as he realized Eddie was coming over to sit next to him. Plopping down on the seat, he pushed Richie further into the booth, making himself comfortable. Without breaking eye contact, he placed his straw in Richie’s milkshake glass and asked, “Are we on a date right now?”





	How to Know If You're On a Date With Your Best Friend

Eddie smiled, chin resting on his hand as he listened to Richie rave about the movie they had just finished watching. In all honesty, he hadn’t even been paying much attention to it, so everything he was telling Eddie was more like a recap of what he had missed. All he had been able to focus on was the way their hands kept brushing against each other as they both reached into the popcorn tub at the same time.

It wasn’t like this had been his first time watching a movie alone with Richie. It wasn’t the first time their arms had been pressed against one another on the shared arm rest, neither one of them relenting to the other, too stubborn to let the other win. It wasn’t even the first time Richie had put his arm around Eddie—finally leaving him the arm rest, might he add—during a movie.

It was, however, the first time the two had gone out together since Eddie had realized he had feelings™ for his best friend. It was the first time he had felt nervous by the slightest accidental touch of hands, or any skin-to-skin contact really, and the first time he had actually  _ wanted  _ Richie to put his arms around him.

“Eds, are you listening?” Richie questioned, as he waved a hand in front of Eddie’s face. “Don’t tell me you just tuned me out this whole time!”

Eddie blinked, faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he slowly came back to reality. He had been so engrossed in thoughts about the boy in front of him that he hadn’t realized he’d stopped paying attention to his ramblings. Quickly, he scrambled for an excuse and said, “Sorry Rich! I’m just so hungry I got a little distracted!”

He reached to pick up the menu in front of him, hiding behind it as he pretended to think about what he wanted. Eddie didn’t actually have to look. He’d been to this diner enough times with Richie and the other losers, to know what he wanted, what he ordered every time.

“You’re kidding, right?” Richie said as he reached over to pull the menu back down onto the table. “You always get the same thing Eds. Why bother pretending like you’re gonna order something different?”

“I’m not  _ pretending _ Richie,” Eddie said as he pouted, crossing his arms defensively. “What makes you so sure that I didn’t want to try anything new tonight?”

Richie stared at him, eyebrows raised suggestively as his mouth began to spread into a wide grin. “You just handed me a perfect line and I could totally make a dirty joke out of it. But I won’t, because I’m trying to be  _ nice _ tonight.”

Eddie gasped, feigning shock. “Richard “The Trashmouth” Tozier? Being nice???” He pretended to think about it, before he giggled and said, “Less likely than you think!”

“Hey, you jerk! It’s more likely!” Richie laughed along with him. “Keep this up and I’m not buying you a milkshake!”

Eddie stopped laughing at this, looking at Richie with a confused expression on his face. He couldn’t help but focus on the way those words made him feel—like this was something more than just friends hanging out. He refused to dwell too long on that impossible fantasy, though, and instead rolled his eyes at the boy in front of him. “Oh no, that’s so tragic! Whatever will I do now?? Oh, that’s right! Buy my own like I was going to do anyway.”

Richie seemed to deflate a little at Eddie’s comment, but he continued to chuckle lightly, the playful look in his eyes changing to something Eddie wasn’t sure he could properly decipher.  _ ‘Was it disappointment? Nah, couldn’t be.’ _

Even so, the change in behavior worried Eddie and he frowned, eyebrows furrowed as his hand reached out to grasp the other boy’s. Before he could get a chance to ask what was wrong, he jumped at the sound of their waitress finally coming up to their table, smiling and unaware of the growing tension—if you could call it that—between the two of them.

“Your usuals again tonight boys?” she asked with a grin on her face, not bothering to take out her order pad.

Before Eddie could respond, Richie winked at her, handed back their menus, and said, “You got it, Linda!”. With one last smile, the waitress nodded and left just as quickly as she came, once again leaving them alone. 

Eddie played with the straw in his cup, staring at it as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world. He was unwilling to look Richie in the eyes, not yet. If he didn’t look, he could pretend for one second more that this was an actual date—that Richie had ordered for him like he’d seen men do for women millions of times in the romantic movies Bev would often force them all to watch.

“Thought you wanted something different,” Richie’s teasing tone made Eddie snap his head up and stare at the curly-haired boy in surprise. 

“I- well, you kind of went ahead and ordered for me,” he defended, a pout once again beginning to form on his face.

“Relaaaax Eds, I’m just...just messing around,” Richie said as he put his hands out in front of himself in defense. “No need to get your panties in a- I mean, yeah, sorry, I just figured you’d prefer your usual, jokes aside.”

Richie sounded nervous now. Eddie could feel something different, something that had changed in his attitude towards Eddie. He was trying to be playful with him, a tamer version of his usual self.  _ ‘Jokes aside’  _ kept repeating in Eddie’s head until suddenly, it clicked, and he realized that Richie had not made a single mom joke that night. In fact, he hadn’t called him anything other than Eds, which was something he was surprised he hadn't picked up on earlier.

Eddie ignored this revelation and continued to talk and laugh with Richie as usual. They talked about their friends, school—anything and everything really—as if nothing between them had changed. Well, really, nothing  _ had _ changed. Eddie noticing Richie’s less than normal behavior didn’t mean anything had changed at all. Eddie knew that change would only happen once one of them actually acknowledged what was going on tonight.  _ ‘God, how many times will the word change cross my mind tonight?’ _

They sipped on their milkshakes, their usual after dinner ritual, as the conversation between them finally died down. Suddenly, Eddie wasn’t sure what to say or how to act. This was typically the part where they would share their drinks, mixing Richie’s chocolate and Eddie’s strawberry to create what Richie called their special ChocoBerry Milkshakes™.

Eddie smiled at the memory of the day this tradition started, remembering the way he’d told Richie how much he hated that name.  _ ‘I’m such a fucking liar,’  _ he thought to himself as he peaked over at Richie. 

Eddie loved it. He loved whenever Richie made something their thing, something they could both share and call their own. He, however, would never admit that to Richie, not in a million years. As Richie looked up from his own drink, Eddie averted his eyes, pretending to find the salt shaker on the table very interesting.

“What’s up Eds?” Richie questioned as he lightly nudged Eddie’s ankle with his foot. “Your face looks like you’re constipated, which usually means you’re worrying about something.”

“I’m not—” Eddie paused, attempting to relax his face as he nudged back at Richie’s foot with his own. “I’m fine, just—nothing. It’s nothing.”

Eddie could feel the way Richie was staring at him, willing him to look at him. When he wouldn’t, Richie grabbed Eddie’s milkshake and dumped it into his own glass. Eddie didn’t respond, despite his annoyance, and continued to stare at the salt shaker on the table. “You’re really not going to tell me what’s wrong?” Richie asked as he began to mix the contents of his glass. “This is the worst d—”

At Richie’s words, Eddie’s eyes snapped up to look at him. His heart began to race as his mind began to repeat the word he was hoping Richie had been about to say.  _ ‘Date...Date...Date? Just fucking ask him. Why is that so hard for you to do?’  _ He struggled with himself for a moment, debating whether he should just lay it all out and ask the question that could change everything between them.

“Richie…” Eddie began as he continued to look at Richie’s face, now the one willing him to look over and meet his gaze. Richie’s cheeks were slightly flushed as he refused to do so, continuing to mix the milkshake in his glass. Eddie huffed, rolling his eyes and grabbing the straw from his now empty glass. Without further thought, before he could chicken out, he suddenly got up from the table, finally getting Richie’s attention.

He could see the way Richie looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, eyes slowly widening as he realized Eddie was coming over to sit next to him. Plopping down on the seat, he pushed Richie further into the booth, making himself comfortable. Without breaking eye contact, he placed his straw in Richie’s milkshake glass and asked, “Are we on a date right now?”

Eddie watched carefully as Richie drew in a sharp breath and stood still, gradually raising his head to meet Eddie's eyes. He could see the way Richie was debating what to say, could see the way he was leaning towards making a joke he knew could have the potential to anger Eddie and make him drop the subject. 

This time though, this time it wouldn't work because Eddie was determined. Determined to get an answer to the question that had been eating away at him since he first realized Richie had been acting differently. He reached out, fingers softly grazing the hand Richie was using to hold onto the milkshake glass. He could feel the way Richie’s hand twitched, shocked at the contact, before he gripped the glass a little tighter. “Why, are you going to pay if I say it is?”

Eddie smiled wide at this, bringing his free hand up to cover his mouth as he began to laugh. “Excuse me? You’re the one that said you were going to buy  _ me _ a milkshake earlier!”

“Oh, so you want this to be a date so  _ I’ll _ pay?” Richie shot back as he grinned at Eddie. He was no longer nervous, and Eddie sighed in relief at this.

“Come on Rich,” Eddie pleaded, looking at him fondly. “Answer the Question. Please.”

“I mean, yeah I—” Richie sighed as he ran his hand through his unruly hair. “Yeah, it’s a date.”

“Okay.” Eddie said simply, pulling the glass closer to himself and taking a sip of the mixed milkshake.

“Okay?” Richie questioned, staring at Eddie’s hand which was still holding on to his around the milkshake. “What the fuck does that mean?” 

  
  


“It means okay,” Eddie shrugged with a soft smile on his lips. “It means this is officially a date, if you still want it to be.”

“Of course I do Eds!” He said excitedly, scooting closer to Eddie. Richie smiled at him and Eddie could feel the fluttering feeling of butterflies in his stomach. He loved this Richie. This happy over the moon Richie that got so excited that he would start rambling and fidgeting with uncontrollable energy. He loved this Richie that seemed so genuinely happy to be on a date with him, that got so flustered over asking him on a date in the first place.

He loved Richie. He had always loved Richie. As a friend, as something more. Eddie knew Richie loved him too, he just didn’t realize that it was as more than best friends. As they both finished up the milkshake, Eddie couldn’t help but wonder how things would be from now on.  _ ‘Are we boyfriends now? Should I ask?’ _

Eddie’s thoughts were interrupted when he felt an arm snake it’s way around his shoulders, pulling him close to the boy beside him. “You’re doing it again. The thinking.”

“It’s what people usually do,” Eddie joked. “I know you don’t do it often but it is a thing people—”

Eddie’s words were cut short as Richie gently grabbed his chin, tilting his head towards him. His eyes widened as Richie’s face got closer and closer before Richie suddenly paused and said, “Is...Is this ok?”

He didn’t respond, only smiled at Richie before moving forward until their lips met in a gentle and—despite Richie’s chapped lips—soft kiss. He smiled into it and Richie pulled back, still holding on to his chin as he looked into his eyes, making Eddie’s stomach flip. 

Before Eddie could say anything, the sound of a throat clearing made both of them jump and pull away. Linda stood there, wide grin on her face as she held the check out to both of them. Richie reached over to take it and as he did, Eddie used it as an opportunity to get impossibly closer to Richie and whisper in his ear, “So, you’re paying for this date then right?”

**Author's Note:**

> me? posting a fic after a month of only doing prompts?? i'm back babeyyy!
> 
> special thanks to monse for helping me think of a title because i'm useless. i love youuuu
> 
> you can find me on tumblr @ripeddiekaspbrak (yes i know i'm crying about it)


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